


Coyote

by qwanderer



Series: Reborn Fox [4]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Arguing, Gen, Pack Dynamics, Post-Break Up, Unhealthy Relationships, Werefox Stiles, Working out of issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-21
Updated: 2015-08-21
Packaged: 2018-04-16 09:03:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4619514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/qwanderer/pseuds/qwanderer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Coyotes aren't wolves, Stiles, we aren't foxes. Wolves have big packs. Foxes stay with their families. Coyotes... our packs are different. Packs form to hunt, or to fight. They're not permanent. Only mates are."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Coyote

**Author's Note:**

> Finally wrote that argument I referred to in _worth it._ I was going to include it in the last story but I realized I had some more stuff to figure out about it. It's post-Ouroboros and references Season 5, but I don't think there are any specific spoilers, in case you want to read it as a standalone.

"Stiles, that was stupid." 

Stiles raised his eyebrows at Malia, mulling that over as they pulled on their pants. "Okay, and, you're talking about what exactly? You know I can make a whole host of inadvisable decisions in a single day." 

"You know what." Malia glared at him as she fished her bra out of her pile of clothes. 

"No, actually, I don't. I was playing, you got a taste of me, I healed. I'm a shifter now! I heal! Trust me, I have done much stupider things." He didn't look at her, focusing instead on his shoelaces. 

"That. Does not help." She wrestled her shirt on angrily. "You can't push me like that, Stiles! Not when I'm full shift! It's dangerous!" 

Stiles shook his head. "You wouldn't hurt me. We're pack!" 

"I know I said that." She pulled on her boots forcefully. "Not sure if that was right." 

"What are you talking about?" Stiles shook his head in confused exasperation. "Of course we're pack." 

"But what kind? Coyotes aren't wolves, Stiles, we aren't foxes. Wolves have big packs. Foxes stay with their families. Coyotes... our packs are different. Packs form to hunt, or to fight. They're not permanent. Only mates are." She sighed harshly. "It was good, being mates the human way. But when we're shifted? Things are different. You smell different. And we can't be family the way you want to be. You can't keep pushing this. Because we're never going to be mates the way coyotes are." 

Stiles sank down onto a rock, fiddling with the sleeve of the button-up he'd just pulled on. "I know that, okay? I'm not asking you to take me back. I know we're not ever gonna be mates. But you're... you are part of the pack, right? Scott's your Alpha?" 

"I like him well enough to listen to him when I'm being human, and when I'm shifted I answer to him. He can call me to hunt or fight. That's pack. But the pack's not my family. Coyotes don't have family." 

Stiles made a face. "Does it have to be that way? You're not _just_ a coyote." 

Malia tugged her bootlaces and stood, stomping away. "Maybe I _like_ being _just_ a coyote!" 

Stiles trailed after her. "I thought you were happy learning how to be human!" 

Malia crossed her arms. "It's fine. It's useful. Searching the internet and driving cars and having dads. But I'm a coyote, okay? I was a coyote for years. It's how I am." 

"You know what, I don't get this." Stiles rushed out in front of her to look her in the eye. "This 'wild animal' thing. I know you, Malia. I know you're just as much a person as anyone. I know how hard you try in school, and with your dad. And with me." 

"Yeah, I try." Her eyes were flinty. "But being a coyote is simpler." 

Stiles's hands went to his hair, ruffing it up as he tried to think of what to say. "I get that, all right, I do. Because when everything was terrible with Scott and the pack, I went all fox. I forgot all of it. Everything but fox things. But that's not all I _was._ " His tone was pleading now. "I needed to come back, remember being human. Deal with all the shit I was ignoring. It's hard, Lia, yeah, but it's worth it." 

"I know that," Malia said through her teeth. "I change back on my own now, don't I? But I need to be a coyote sometimes. I need things to be simple again." 

"And being my friend, that's not simple?" A little bit of hurt had crept into his voice. 

"No, it's not, Stiles. Because you're always Stiles. You're always pushing. Always fixing things. Sometimes I don't want to be fixed!" 

"I'm not - I know you don't need to be fixed! You're great! And I'm not always - all the way Stiles. When I'm a fox, the world does look different. It seems simpler. But I can still smell when you're unhappy, I still want to change that. How could I not?" 

"That's the problem," she said tightly. "You're a hero. You can't stop being a hero. You can't give up on people. I'm not like you, Stiles. I can't do what you do, because I'd fall apart. Being a coyote is simple. Hunt. Survive. Reproduce. Watch death happen and not give a shit because it happens every day and there's no need to stop it. Because that's what happens when I see death every day. I accept it. You see death every day and you still try to stop it. I can't be like that. I can't care about everyone all of the time. Being human, and caring, and watching people die, it hurts. It hurts too much. Stiles, I'll never be good enough for you. So maybe you should just give up already." 

Stiles's mouth wavered open and closed for a minute before he could find words for that. "Malia," he said. "I'm sorry. You're good enough. Believe me?" 

"Even when you forgot you were human, the first thing you did was find family. Find someone who needed you. The shift? It's who we are. I make a half-decent coyote. But what you're trying to teach me to be? I'm not. I'm not what you need." 

Stiles frowned, nodded... and let her go. 


End file.
